TRAINING: Friday 2nd February 2024

I headed down to Casey for a few hours this morning whilst I was “out seeing a client” 😉.  It was hard to tell who was who on occasion as a lot of them didn't have numbers on the jumpers and were wearing caps. So go easy if I botch a few things here. I’ll do my best to share my observations.

I arrived around 9.40 and the drills were underway. Clarry was running at a solid pace for most of the session and according to the man himself he thinks he is a “couple of weeks away” from joining the main group. Will Verrall did quite a solid amount of running along the boundary with Clarry and didn’t look far off.

Viney wasn’t participating in the drills when I first arrived but joined shortly after and played through the entire match sim later in the session. Whatever he limped off with the other day clearly is no issue. Fullarton also jogged for about an hour and didn’t seem to be uncomfortable but was at minimal pace. Salem was hanging around near the interchange bench for a while during match sim, but he did not train at all to my knowledge.

I didn’t see Petty, Bowey, BB, Hunter, Melky, or Smith at all.

They may have been on the far side of the ground from me or inside on the bikes, but as far as I can tell none of them participated today. Jefferson participated in a few drills, but I didn’t notice him after the first 20 minutes. There were about 30 mins or so of ball movement drills before the good stuff started!

Match Sim was made up of 3, 20 minutes “quarters” and there was AFL Umpires there to officiate.  The teams started off with what seemed to be a mix of the best 22 and depth players on both sides, with the starting backs lined up on the starting fwds.  Having said that the blue team was clearly stronger through the middle, even with Gawny and a few others on team white.  

After the first 2 “quarters” there was a changeup in teams and the blue team was stacked with our likely best 22. Interestingly ANB, Billings and Thommo all lined up in for the white team. Some interesting inclusions on team blue included Windsor on the wing and Howes and Macca playing down back. Macca looks fit and held his own today. Thommo and Disco might be stuck in Casey for a while longer it seems, although both did some nice things. Our key defensive depth looks great  …

The key forwards on the other hand look very thin. Roo was quiet today but is a great focal point when moving the ball forward. However as good as he is as a target, we really need another Key Fwd to step up or it might be much of the same in 2024.

There seemed to be a focus on scoring quickly and coming from behind in this period, The white team were given a 30 odd point lead for the blues to hunt down, which they did comfortably.  At one point during match sim Laurie received the ball during a center square stoppage and blasted it forward in a hurry. Chappy then yelled out, “Connect Bill, Connect!”  I liked this as it shows they are working on a major issue we have had for the past 2 seasons. A work in progress but at least a sign they are addressing it. I was pleasantly surprised with our game style today, I thought the ball movement looked much faster then previous years and they used the corridor quite often too, this had mixed results but that's to be expected. 

Although Blue dominated the session, I must say there were some good signs from our younger brigade and depth players. All the draftees took part in the match Sim and showed signs of what they could become. Really liked Kolts energy and attitude, a future leader in the making IMO. Kynan had some very nice moments and looks like an absolute work horse, just goes, and goes. And Windsor…. Ill get back to this lad.

Taj lined up in quite a few CBAs and did some nice things when faced up against our starting Mids, He really stood out to me today, as did Laurie. Positive signs aside, Gawn, Track, Viney & Gus were our starring 4 for blue at this point, and they looked  levels above the opposition. Overall, the standard was to good watch and I left with optimism for the season and our future with our youngins all showing a bit. Just some notes on individuals:

ANB - Undoubtably starting 22, he was BOG for white by a country mile IMO. Great player for our young players to watch and learn from.

Kosi – Everything he touches turns to gold. He really stands out with everything he does. He does stuff that no one else on the list can.

Track - looks to be in extremely good nick and was just a powerful beast all day.

Viney - Seemed completely unhindered to me and at times untouchable. Kicked a very nice goal during match Sim.

Gus – Looks to be fine after his big knock. Played a mix of halfback and midfield. I really like the look of him in the guts and should stay there until Clarry is back IMO. Track, Oliver, Viney, Gus should be our priority mids in 2024. Elite!

Windsor – I will be shocked if he doesn’t play round 1. It’s the first time I have seen him play live in any form and he looks like a ripper. Used the ball well, ran hard to give and receive, competed better than expected in the contest and just looked like he belongs.  I may have just caught him on a good day and his consistency might not be there yet, but I am a fan already. A shoe in to take Hunters role, just a matter of when.

Sparrow – I know some on here are big Tommy fans, but from what I saw today he is in danger of losing his spot to one of the young and hungry up and comers if he doesn’t improve.  He just seems to have stagnated. Taj, Kynan, Kolt, Lauire could all push him out if he is not careful.

Schache – Never been a fan of this bloke, however I must admit he impressed me today. Got bullied a tad in the ruck Vs Gawn but that’s to be expected. He shouldn’t have to go up against many starting rucks at AFL level and from what I saw today he may well be our backup ruck/fwd this year.  He had a great moment when he competed in the ruck with Gawn, smothered an attempted clearance kick then followed up with a big tackle locking it in. The boys and coaches loved it!

Laurie – Thought he was a mile off the pace in his AFL games last year but looks to have stepped it up bigtime. He found a lot of the ball and looked clean, calm, and effective.

Howes – Not sure if he will play down back in the AFL but during the drills and match sim he had moments that made you take notice. The kid can play, just not sure how he gets a look in.

McAdam – Took a few BIG marks, one on poor old Gawnys back. He must be getting sick of that! McAdam will add to our forward line potency for sure. He didn’t get a huge amount of it but he was impactful. Looks the goods.

Spargo – Looks super fit and was his creative self. Big fan!

Lever – Loved his voice and leadership, I still think he will be our captain one day.

Gawn – Dominated the ruck and was never out marked as expected. Today did highlight how badly we need to ruck depth ASAP though.

Anywho, it was a great morning, and I am excited for the season to start!

I’ll do my best to answer Any questions you lot may have!

GO DEES!

Steven May (who left the main group on Wednesday due to general soreness and ran the rest of the session) came off late and didn't look comfortable. Tried a couple of run throughs and shook his head. He spoke to the trainer and went inside. What this space I reckon.